Microfluidic devices are well known for use in analysis and sample treatment. Such devices provide for the precise control and manipulation of fluids and are generally considered to have geometric dimensions of the micro, i.e. sub-millimeter scale. These devices are particularly useful in that they provide measurements in scenarios where there are only small volumes of the analyte available or small amounts of reagents should be used, e.g. in high-throughput screening for drug discovery. Furthermore they tend to provide results with reduced reagent consumption and analysis time, ease of integration, and the potential for high-throughput analysis.
While conventional microfluidic devices provide many advantages commensurate with their dimensions there are still problems in using these devices for complete analysis systems, i.e. the type of systems that enables the provision of an analyte, the modification of that analyte and the obtaining of results from that modification. There is a further need for systems that provide a plurality of data signal outputs that can be used for statistical analysis and for parallel processing of a plurality of different tests. Also the costs of manufacturing have to be minimized, restricting the scope of fabrication technologies and hence also the degree of freedom available for the device features geometries.